Off Center
by Energywelder
Summary: My Submission for the PBC, Round Two. I'm not as ashamed of this as my last one, so if you're ready for some bad writing (especially towards the end) then proceed with caution, but if you're casually scrolling through recent uploads, skip this, it doesn't concern you.


Off-Center

Wearing his usual dour expression, Huan stood on a balcony situated above the training grounds next to his home. Below him was his mother, Suyin Bei-Fong, and his sister Opal, who was talking on and on about some Air-bending mission she had gone on some months ago. And it must have been some tale, because she was gesticulating wildly, obviously excited, using her flat right hand with pinky and thumb extended outwards to signify some aerial stunts she had performed. Off to their side, the Avatar was dueling Wei and Wing at Power Disc again, with the game being pretty evenly matched. Standing to the side of the mini arena watching was the Avatar's girlfriend Asami, who was cheering Korra on. Mako was somewhere in Republic City, where he had recently received a promotion; some said he was on track to Chief of Police one day. Bolin was lounging next to Asami, trying still to learn Metal-bending by watching others.

Huan watched from the balcony as they all enjoyed themselves, his attention focusing back to Opal as she suddenly brought her hand down and their mother burst out laughing. They had organized this as a sort of semi-reunion, or was it a birthday, but he actually didn't know or care. After all it didn't really concern him. In point of fact, he actually hadn't been invited. Not that he wanted to be. All those cheerful people would be a fast way to ruin his day, and probably drive him into a funk which would result in him being unable to create anything interesting for days.

Turning away from the people below, Huan began stalking back to his room. _It still would've been the polite thing to invite me_ He thought bitterly. _Just because I don't intend to go doesn't mean I don't appreciate the gesture._ Passing an all metal clock and rounding the corner, Huan found himself at this room/studio. Tiredly pushing open the door, he found himself mostly surrounded by his creations. Each one was abstract, unique, and entirely made of metal he bent to shape himself. Some of his creations were made of pieces which were in turn made of different metals, while others were made of vibrantly colored alloys which caught the sun from several skylights. However the vast majority was the featureless gray of common steel.

Seeking solace from his increasingly negative mood, Huan went over to his newest sculpture. Although he hadn't even started on it yet, it was still just an unmarked steel beam, he felt great promise with the design he had in his head. Trying his best to clear his mind, Huan assumed a relaxed Earth-bending pose, reminiscent of his grandmother's Horse Stance. Slowly working the metal, the sculpture began to take shape.

Like a tree with many branches, a central beam spread out into a circle of out-stretching sticks of metal. Around the tips of these sticks, he bent caps of various precious metals from supplies on a nearby work table; caps of gold, silver, bronze, even low grade platinum which although difficult to bend, wasn't so pure that it was impossible. But from the base of the "tree" he bent a single solitary branch, forming something close to a U-shape. Once the rough outline was finished, he grafted an extension made entirely of platinum, which he then capped in steel.

Circling his finished work, he began to ponder what his muse was trying to tell him. _Is it a representation of life? The beauty of diversity?_ Although many people his works of art were lazy because of how comparatively simple they were compared to great painted masterpieces or sculptures made by hand, Huan disagreed, and not for reasons of ego or self-accomplishment. Although those masterpieces were indeed beautiful, they often told you everything you had to know. The lighting would reveal mood, and the colors theme, and the subject would be some clue to the word or phrase or deeper meaning the picture was trying to get across. But Huan's work relied on the simplicity, and the ruggedness. His works were not meant to be easy. Because often what he was trying to display or the point he was trying to get across was as abstract as people considered his sculptures.

In fact his sculptures were so abstract, their meanings often eluded even him. All of the works he kept in his room were either the ones he had not finished or the ones he had not figured out yet. And this one was starting to look like it would join the latter group. Crossing his right arm across his chest as his left hand cradled his chin, he took one more squinting glance at his work before throwing his hands up in frustration and walking to the window. He could hear the party even from here, where all the "important people" were having their fun without him.

Scowling at the noise he turned his face to regard the street below. Lining the front of the house were a handful of his best creations, the ones he took the most pride in. His parents thought it would be good for him if he displayed his art in a public setting, instead of just for the family. And usually he didn't like the looks people threw at his works, confused or scornful faces being very tedious indeed. However, as he looked now, Huan could see that a small group of people were clustered around the sculpture directly beneath his window. They seemed to be discussing something amongst themselves, releasing a flurry of understanding "ohhhh's". And although they seemed intent on being as quiet as possible, he could hear a single comment from somewhere near the center of the group: " . . . I'm telling you! The way he's going, he's going to be the most sought after sculptor in the world!"

Huan considered what he had overheard for a moment, and then regarded his sculpture one last time. With a gentle nudge with bending, he bent the lower branch so that it joined the circle of other branches, while its root remained separate from the others. With that final adjustment, Huan turned around and left the room. He decided to go join the party.

* * *

I'm not a big fan of this work either, but this is my submission for the Pro-Bending Circuit, Season Two, round two. I chose the bishop prompt, with additional prompts clock and Opal.

I have been learning more about how I write through actually writing. My thoughts are a bit disjointed because I can really only get every other one down on the actual page, and they are often pretty distinct from each other because I keep getting distracted and changing what I want to happen. Another flaw I think is that I'm bad at ending things. I think the worst part of this is how truncated the ending feels to me, but I don't really know how to extend it so eh.

Uploaded 7/27/015


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